Management Style and Philosophical Beliefs If you want to be an effective teacher then you have to have strong classroom

management skills. According to Daniels, If you cant manage your classroom, the students might not be able to master fractions or become friends with other students. These failures might prevent them from becoming productive citizens in our now global economy. If we think back to our goals for students and the purpose of education, one of our main goals is to prepare students to succeed in the real world and make positive contributions to society. Having strong classroom management skills will encourage students to be productive, develop good listening skills, collaborate with others, and will help them to focus and think critically about the content. If the teacher is unable to effectively manage the classroom, then it will be very difficult for any real learning to take place. I took the classroom management style quiz on Blackboard and found that my beliefs most closely aligned with an authoritative style. I was expecting these results because I like to have some control over the class, but I do not want students to feel like they are being controlled. I do not like to tell students what to do; I would rather present them with options and allow them to make their own decisions. I do not believe in yelling at students because I think it is important for them to realize how they are acting and either self-correct or be redirected by their peers. According to the article that accompanies the quiz, the authoritative teacher places limits and controls on the students but simultaneously encourages independence (pg. 3). My second highest score fell under the democratic style. I have a difficult time establishing one set of rules for all students because I think all situations are independent from one another and cannot be covered under one blanket set of rules. I like to give students some freedom, but I also realize that I have objectives to cover and I need students to cooperate and follow some general rules. In class we have discussed writing rules as what students should do or act like instead of what students are not allowed to do and I agree with this. I also agree that it is important to keep interactions with students positive, even when they have misbehaved. Establishing a Positive Classroom Culture I will develop positive student-teacher relationships by keeping the lines of communication open with my students. I will make it a point to stand outside of my door before each class and greet my students as they come in. I will begin my classes by asking students what is going on, for instance any school sports, events, competitions they are involved in, birthdays, life events etc. I will remember what students have told me and then follow up with them. I will make appearances at after school events and after school activities. I will start this off on the first day of school by doing an ice breaker activity called toss n talk ball. I would get a plastic ball and write questions on it in marker such as: Where is your favorite

place in the world? Favorite breakfast food? Do you have any pets? Brothers and sisters? What did you do over the summer? What are you looking forward to this year? Share a unique fact about yourself. Etc. Students start by sitting on the tops of their desks and after they share they will sit back down in their seat. I will keep this idea of a toss n talk ball and use it th roughout the year with content. I want to create an environment where students value the opinions of others and are not afraid to share their ideas. I would use this concept to talk about controversial issues in science. After we have discussed the sides of an issue, I could use this ball activity to make sure I hear a comment from everyone. Developing Classroom Rules and Procedures I plan to teach middle school or high school so it would be difficult to have a different set of rules for each class period. I plan to have only three rules: act appropriately, turn off your cell phones, no talking while others are talking (including the teacher!). I will probably never deny a student from going to the restroom or the nurse unless it starts to become a problem where they are going frequently or going just to leave class. I will have one pass that doubles as the bathroom and water fountain pass, that way I will not have more than one student gone from the classroom at once unless there is someone at the nurses office. I will give each class the chance to have water bottles in my class and gum until they start to become a problem. I want to give students the chance to prove that they can handle privileges instead of assuming they cannot and taking them away right off the bat. As far as late work and absences go, I would handle them on a case by case basis. I would give each student three late work passes at the beginning of each semester. After they run out of late work passes I would give half credit for one day late and none for any more after that. A late work pass is only good for a one day extension. However, if a student was sick or missed class for another reason, I would accept their work without a late pass attached to it. I will also have folders that are labeled with the days of the week. I will write down students that missed class on a slip of paper and paper clip their name to any handouts they needed from that day as well as a reminder to get notes from a classmate if we took notes that day and then place all of this in the corresponding day of the week folder. I will assign extra credit as I see fit. For example, it could be to find something in the news that goes along with what we are discussing in science and write a summary of what youve found or maybe a challenge problem worth a point of extra on the next math test. I will start my class everyday by doing a math warm-up or science starter. I will take attendance during this time and touch base with any students that missed class the day before or that have questions for me. I will handle down-time by having a jar full of short energizers. All of these activities will be content related. I would also use this as an extra opportunity to incorporate the nature of science. I would have puzzle activities for students to work on and I

would then start a short discussion about the nature of science. I would also use this time at the end of class to do a short review about what we did that day. I could incorporate a quick write or exit ticket with a question about content from that day. I could also get a jumpstart on the next day by asking a question to see what students know before I cover the next days material. I will use Infinite Campus to track student learning so that students and parents can keep up on progress and missing work. I will keep records of student work so that I can adjust my instruction for future lessons within that same school year as well as for the year after. Classroom Layout This will be my home setup that I will have the desks reset to after every class. This set up works well if I want students to discuss in large groups, do home group and expert group activities, work in small groups of two or three, or move all of their desks into a large circle for a large group discussion. I wanted to maximize the free space in my classroom because I plan to do a lot of activities that let students move around. I wanted to have a kidney table to work with small groups and to also give students another workspace besides the rugs and beanbag chairs. I put my desk in the back because I do not plan to sit at it much during class time. I will have a bulletin board near the front door with all of my day of the week folders posted up. I will have trays sitting on the shelves near the book stand that are labeled by class period for students to turn in work. I will display student work on another bulletin board in my room. I will also have a vocabulary wall where we will hang up new words as we learn them. I will have an Elmo projector in my room as well as multiple large white boards that groups can display their work on and then pass around to other groups to add to and critique. I have clumped all of my desks together in one general area so that I can easily roam around throughout them and monitor classroom behavior. Monitoring the Classroom and Responding to Student Misbehavior I will always use proximity to monitor student behavior. Depending on the student, some just need to see that you know they are misbehaving while others need a verbal reminder. I will constantly roam around my classroom and sit in one place as little as possible. If I am working with a small group I will make a point to glace up every so often. I will not be quick to accuse students of misbehaving though; some may just be asking their partner a question or talking about the content. I think it is important to pick your battles. When students are off task I will simply walk over and ask them which part they are working on and if they have any questions for me. If the entire class is talking and off task I will ask everyone to be quiet and look up front at me. I will tell students that I have observed a lot of off task groups, remind them of their task, how much time they have left, and to ask me any questions they have that are keeping them from making progress. If I need students to quiet down then I will ask nicely

and then wait for them to correct each other, I will give this about twenty or thirty seconds and then move to counting down from five or flicking the lights on and off. There are only a few behaviors that are unacceptable to me. I feel as though once I start student teaching I will discover more to add to this list! The artifact that I have created is a poster that could be hung up in my classroom. I like this poster because the top of it is funny but the bottom of it actually lists out what students better not be doing. The consequences for students that misbehave will depend on the situation. I will not send a student down the principal unless the situation is something that I absolutely cannot handle. I will almost always give students one warning but then after that it could turn in to changing seats, sitting at the back table by themselves, talking to me after class, or an email or call home. I also believe in students apologizing to each other, if the student on the receiving end is alright with it, not just receiving a consequence. When talking with students I would ask them to describe to me why we are having a discussion instead of me just telling them what they have done wrong. Parents as Partners I referred to the 9 Techniques for Building Solid Parent-Teacher Relationships article for this section. I will involve parents in my classroom by building connections as soon as possible during registration time and at back to school night. I want to start off on a positive note with parents before there are any possibilities of classroom behavior issues or poor grades. This way, when you call parents they already have a positive relationship with you and will be more willing to listen and work with you to solve any issues. I will also distribute a parent survey so that parents know that I am interested in their student. I will also include questions about how I should go about contacting parents, who all needs to be contacted, and when to contact them. I will tell parents that I prefer email and then phone and will do my best to answer all emails within 24 hours except for weekends. I will also use Infinite Campus to communicate with students and parents. I will keep grades posted there as well as a list of what we did in class that day. I will upload documents so that students and parents can print worksheets and handouts from home if need be. I will also send out a monthly email update that parents can sign up to be included on. It will include a calendar of events, topics or projects that we are covering that month, opportunities for parent helpers to come in, a list of how parents can get involved ranging from very minimal commitments to larger commitments etc. I will contact parents specifically about their child via email twice a year. I know that I will run into parents who are not as involved at their childs schooling as they should be. I will contact these parents and tell them what I think their child needs help in to succeed and I will ask these parents how I can help with this. For instance, I could support parents in helping their children at home with math homework by uploading a short two minute video of myself teaching an example problem. Parents could watch this with their children to get an idea of

how to go about solving the problem and then parent and student could work together. I would also create activities that encourage parent/guardian involvement. I would give students a good week to complete this activity though in case they have a parent that is not home every night or has a busy schedule. In the end, I do not think it is possible to force a parent to get involved. In this case, I would be sure to pay special attention to these students and support them with whatever they may need. I like the idea of having students lead the conference, but it is important to teach students how to lead a conference first. I would have students write a letter to their parents that discusses goals that they set at the beginning of the year, the grade that they were expecting to receive, their current grade, why they have received that grade so far (good or bad), work they have done or a test that they are proud of, something that they do well in class, something that they could improve on, and finally a short narrative on whether or not they have met their goals and any new goals they want to set if they have already met their first set of goals. This could be edited but I think it gets the student thinking about their performance in the class before the conference begins. I think it is important for the student to reflect and think about what they want to keep doing or change before conferences begin. Of course, some students may need some assistance with this. Then at conferences, the student, teacher and parent can work together to help the student continue to work toward their goals or help them create a plan to get on the right track.

Artifacts 1. Management quiz results- scores range from 3-15. High score indicates strong preference. a. Authoritarian = 6 b. Authoritative = 12 c. Democratic = 10 d. Laissez-faire = 6

2. Class building activity: Toss n Talk Ball (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/377317275001041007/)

3. Late work Coupons

4. Classroom Layout

5. Poster with a listing of unacceptable classroom behaviors

throw objects across the room touch, shove, or hit others be disrespectful towards others text during class use inappropriate or offensive language

6. Sample Parent Survey Questions: I put the packet that you gave us during class in my file and I will use your family survey for my future classes! a. What are your childs favorite and least favorite school subjects? Why? b. Does your child participate in any after school or extracurricular activities? If so, what are they? c. Does your child prefer to work alone, with a partner, in a group, or all three? d. To communicate, does your child prefer to draw, write, talk or other? (please explain other) e. On average, how many hours a week does your child: Read? Play? Watch TV? Sleep? f. Does your child have any allergies or other health issues that I should be aware of as their classroom teacher? If yes, please explain. g. What else can you tell me about your child that I might need to know?